No Comments On BJP's Manifesto, Says U.S.

"Indeed, the BJP manifesto of 1998 pledged to "Re-evaluate the country?s nuclear policy and exercise the option to induct nuclear weapons. In May 1998, they did," she wrote in a blog at the Council on Foreign Relations -- an eminent American think tank based in Washington.

In a significant departure from the Congress manifesto, which uses the word "nuclear" only once to exhort the need to expand civilian nuclear energy, the BJP pledges to update India?s nuclear doctrine to "make it relevant to challenges of current times."

"They would maintain India's policy of a credible minimum deterrent in tune with changing geostatic realities," the former State Department official wrote.

"The BJP lays down some markers on FDI, India's nuclear doctrine, and how it would approach its bilateral and multilateral relationships. As a roadmap for what the possible next Indian government might undertake, it thus offers some high-level guideposts, and important areas for external observers to watch closely," Ayres said.

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